The invention relates to a device for filleting or deboning leg or wing parts of poultry, such as chicken or turkeys.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,649 in the name of the applicant shows a deboner that is adapted for in a set-up deboning the chicken leg of both the thighbone and the drumstick. Said deboner comprises several deboning modules that move along a processing path. Each deboning module comprises a support block in which the end of the thighbone is secured, and stripping claws in which the end of the drumstick bone is secured. The bones are held in line with each other by a straight bar positioned along the processing path, which bar keeps the chicken legs in a stretched position at the level of the knee joint. During the deboning process the stripping claws move towards the support block, wherein the end of the drumstick bone is accommodated in a hollow cylinder blade that moves along, with which blade the meat mass will finally be cut loose against the support block.
During the movement of the stripping claws towards the support block large stripping forces are exerted on the chicken leg, as a result of which the knee joint is able to buckle through against the stationary straight bar. The drum stick bone may as a result end up beyond the hollow cylinder blade, and the thigh bone may break, as a result of which the deboning process can be disrupted.
A further known deboner for a chicken leg comprises a clamp for attaching the knee joint, and movable supports on both sides and spaced apart from the clamp for pushing the thigh bone and drum stick upward, as a result of which the knee joint is held in a stretched position. A movable cylinder blade pierces the positioned chicken bone around the bones, as a result of which the chicken leg is pushed out of the clamp and the supports that move away. An incorrect placement of the chicken leg in the clamp may result in the knee joint not remaining in the wanted stretched position, resulting in the cylinder blade cutting the chicken leg to pieces. The diameter of the cylinder blade is adapted to accommodation of the knee joint, as a result of which usable meat is left behind around the bones.
It is an object of the invention to provide a device for filleting or deboning leg or wing parts of poultry, wherein the position of the leg or wing part, and particularly the parts that are engaged during deboning, can be maintained.
It is an object of the invention to provide a device for filleting or deboning leg or wing parts of poultry having an increased meat yield.